The Way It Might Have Been
by MacKynzie
Summary: An Alternate Universe story on Rogue's past just before she met up with Logan.


  
  
  
The Way it Might Have Been  
  
  
Author: MacKynzie  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: Rogue doesn't belong to me, but all the other characters are original.  
  
  
  
  
Rogue froze. There was someone there, someone who wanted her, someone who would hunt her. Looking around she saw the perfect hiding place. Quickly scaling the tree, she settled herself in it and dared not even breath as she heard the footsteps approaching.  
  
"Rogue." he whispered, his eyes like that of a cat, searching the night, quickly, ruthlessly.   
  
Rogue held her breath. "Rogue," he called loudly knowing she was definitly in the sound of his voice. "I know you're here. I know you can here me, darling. If you come out now I won't punish you as severly. You can trust me, baby. If I find you it's going to be a whole lot worse, though, you know that."  
  
Oh, yes, she did know that. All too well in fact, knew better that anyone else at the compound.  
And then, in an instant, his yellow cat eyes were on her, high in the tree. "Rogue," he said, sounding like a scolding father,"come down now or I'll will get you myself."  
  
Rogue shivered at the thought, and knowing there was no other way, she floated to the ground, noiselessly. She could fly, a talent she hadn't been born with, but what was the difference?  
  
Nothing mattered, not her, not her feelings. He didn't care, none of them did.  
  
***  
  
She'd been in this hellhole of a place for almost 3 years now. 3 years since her parents had conveniently lost her here. They hated her, that could be the only explanation. The only fathomable reason that they would put here. But she wouldn't be here much longer, no, soon she would be gone.   
  
The firey sensation racing up and down her frail body shocked her out of her reverie. It hurt like a bitch, but the trip had been worth it. He had thought she was trying to escape. What a fool.  
  
Suddenly, her face turned stark white and she moaned in agony at the charges or fire ants marching in her head, her body. Rogue struggled not to scream, in fact, every time she had a session, she fought not to scream. Fought to keep ahold of herself, of her sanity. She would never let them win. Never the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in pain.  
  
Thump! Rogue winced as she was unceremoniously dumped onto the floor of her cell. Her small teenage body spoke of innocence, an innocence she did not posess, never really had in fact. She was 17, here since she was 14. And before, well, before had no memories for her. Innocence. She knew not the meaning of the word. Rogue did all sorts of things she would be ashamed of if she stopped and thought about it. But Rogue had stopped those foolish notions a long time ago. Perhaps even before she had arrived at the compound. She did lots of things to survive, to eat, to sleep in peace. She was very adept at sexual favors. Her skin was deadly, for sure, but there were many creative ways of getting around things like that. She did things, favors that gave her food and a blanket in the winter. Things that kept her in good graces with the guards. Innocence. What did that mean, exactly? Who thought up the meaning of innocence, anyway?   
  
'A very foolish person.' thought Rogue. She hauled herself up onto her bunk with surprising little pain. The punishment had been very mundane, for what she'd done. Escaping to the outer perimeter, that was a very serious offense, but she'd been here long enough. The others, the ones who'd been there when she'd arrived had all been killed. In a experiment, in a beating, hell, even a few escape attempts. They'd all been killed, the ones that tried. No one had ever successfully made it out of this place. She knew why he hadn't ordered her exocution, besides that she had the highest senority, she was the most valuable to them. To their research. A simple touch and a death resulted. Yes, that presented many possibilities to the doctors here. Possibilities they never stopped exploring, never hesitated in the 3 years she'd been imprisoned here. 'Not much longer,' she grinned wryly.  
  
***  
  
A week later, Rogue sat at the dining table. Hungrily, she ate her soup, eyeing all the other 'inmates' or patients, rather. Here, she was ruler. Like God, in some respects. Rogue decided who was in and who was out. No one questioned her, Rogue's word was law. She wasn't the oldest, but she had been here the longest.   
  
"Hey, Rogue," an girl who looked slightly older that Rogue called,"you seen the new girl."  
  
"Of course, Lady, now eat your food." Rogue had seen the girl, alright. She'd arrived here this just this morning, and Rogue made it her business to know who came and who went.  
  
"I don't like the looks of her. Reminds me of some goody tooshoo. What till she's here a day." The young woman named Lady laughed derisively. Rogue glared at Lady.  
  
"Ah, said eat yer sup," Rogue glared at Lady, who immediatly went back to her food at the repeat command. When Rogue's accent became more pronounced she meant it.  
  
***  
  
Hallie peered into the room nervously. It was full of women, well, not women, really, but teenagers. 'Teenagers who look like they would kill me without a second thought.' Hallie thought, anxious. She was hungry and hunger usually pushed fear aside, at least momentarily.  
  
Hallie stepped into the room and started in the direction of what looked like a serving station, hoping avoid the girls attention. It was a futile thought, however, because she had not made it more than 5 feet before a girl's voice broke the quiet chatter.   
  
"Weellllll, lookey what we got here, ladies. It's the new girl and she looks a little hungry."  
the girl laughed shrilly and most in the relatively crowded room joined in to mock Hallie.   
  
Rogue frowned, she had a splitting headache, and really didn't have any desire for this to continue. However, it was good for the girls, to get some fun wherever they could.  
  
She watched as the young girl straightened her shoulders and, ignoring the laughter and mockery, walked to the soup pot. Hallie looked inside the pot and her stomach turned, but she was hungry. She got the last bit from the bottom and turned back toward the tables, looking for a place to sit. Hallie was surprised to see that all the girls had turned their attention away from her and had gone back to their food and conversations.   
  
Hallie looked longingly for a place to sit, or a friendly face. Suddenly, a girl looked up and her eyes locked on Hallie's. With a nod the girl beckoned her over. Gratefully, Hallie sat across from the girl and looked at the other faces studying her. They quickly looked away and returned to their dinner.  
  
"I'm Hallie," she said. The girl studied her for a moment then said," Look, you're new, so I suggest you listen to what I have to say. You know why they laughed at you?"  
  
Hallie nodded,"I'm new."   
  
"No, that's part of it, but the main reason was the way you walked. With your head up, like you owned the place. Your shoulders back. You wanna last long in the compound, you better start acting like you belong here, which you do. Got it?"  
  
Hallie nodded again,"But I didn't even do anything." she protested  
  
"You didn't have to. That's the point. Look, I won't do into detail about the politics of the compound but if you want to survive, you will walk with your head down and shuffle your feet."  
her gaze softened at Hallie's frightened look. "I'm Ghost, by the way." Ghost pointed to the girl next to her,"That's Mila," Mila nodded briefly, " and that's Melora." Ghost pointed out the girl seated next to Hallie. "Sisters," Ghost added. Hallie smiled,"Of course."  
  
***  
  
Hallie lay on the top bunk in her cell, frowning at the ceiling. She nearly burst into tears at the thought of where she was, and where she wasn't. Kidnapped, ripped away from her family. Hallie had spent all her tears on the ride to the compound. The journey had been hellish, for sure. Crammed into a small truck with 15 or so other girls. Hallie frowned, wondering where all the other girls were. She'd thought they'd all been unloaded here, but Hallie had been too slow in getting out of the truck and had been whacked on the back of her head, losing conciousness. Maybe they'd been taked somewhere else.   
  
Hallie frowned, she knew she was avoiding thinking about her family. Tears were suddenly streaming down her face. She'd been out with a girlfriend. They'd gone to a movie and then decided to walk home. A reckless decision. Hallie's mother had warned them, told them to take a taxi. That part of town was dangerous, she'd said. But no, Hallie decided they had to walk home on such a beautiful night. And now she was here. Hallie couldn't remember what had happened to her friend, Suzanne. She wasn't on the truck and Hallie could only hope that she had escaped the men who'd kidnapped her.  
  
"Would ya' shut up, girl? I'm tryin' to sleep, here." Ghost's infuriated voice penetrated the quiet night. "I'm sorry," Hallie sobbed, trying to get herself under control. After all, she could not afford to make any enemies here. "I just keep thinking about my family. What will they do? They won't give up looking for me. They're going to come and then we all can leave."  
  
"Oh, please, shut up, already. I've heard that song and dance before, girl. From ladies that were a lot tougher than the likes of you. There families never found them. They died here, just like we all will."  
  
"Stop it! Don't say that! We are going to get out of here." Hallie cried.  
  
"You know how long I've been in this hellhole? Do ya'? A year and a half. That's not even a drop in the hat compared to some." Ghost spat.  
  
Hallie calmed herself down. "How long is the longest here?" she asked quietly.   
  
"3 years," Ghost's voice had softened,"all the ones before that died long ago."  
  
"What did they die from?"  
  
"You really don't know, do you? Do you have any idea where you are? What goes on here?   
This isn't some hospital, you fool, this is a slaughterhouse! Did you see the 'doctors'? What they do to the women here? They test diseases, run experiments on pain, torture, seeing how much pain you can stand before you die in your own blood. The only reason you're here is because you're a mutant. They experiment with mutants. They kill us, and laugh when we scream."  
  
There was silence from the top bunk where Hallie lay, horrified.  
  
"It won't be long, girlie, before they come for you. Dr. Carmein likes the new ones, he'll be here before the week is out I'm sure."  
  
"Wha-what will he want? What will he do?"  
  
"Hmm, hard to say, for sure. But I'm sure it will be fun."  
  
"What have they done to you?" Hallie asked, timidly, not sure she really wanted to know.  
  
"Enough to know not to answer stupid questions like that."  
  
"Do they call roll every day?" Hallie questioned, remembering the roll after dinner. They'd been hearded outside into a court yard and made to stand there for an hour, despite that they're were only a hundred or so teenage girls. Surely, it hadn't taken an hour to make sure everyone was there.  
  
"Twice a day. After breakfast and after dinner. We stand there for as long as they say, and if you break the line you'll be shot or selected. On the fun days roll takes 2 hours during selection."  
  
"Selection?" Hallie's voice quavered slightly at the forbidding word.  
  
"Yes, selection. When Carmein comes out and gets his specimens for his latest theory on genetic mutations."  
  
"Have you ever been selected?"   
  
"I'm here, aren't I?" Ghost answered snidely. "If you're done with the interrogation, I'm very tired."  
  
"Just one more question?"   
  
Ghost grunted. "Why is your name Ghost?" Hallie asked, not wanting to break the contact.  
  
"At one time I could be invisible if I wanted. What's you power?" Ghost asked Hallie suddenly.  
  
"I can make....fire with my mind. You can't become invisible anymore?"  
  
"No," Ghost couldn't figure out why she was telling the annoying girl above her head this, maybe just to shut her up,"when I first got here, the first experiment he did on me was to remove my invisibility gene. Carmein thought he could bring it back, but he couldn't. He destroyed it. I don't know why he keeps me alive, I'm haven't been a mutant for a very long time."  
  
Hallie shivered,"I'm sorry," she whispered, horrified at what these girls went through every day.  
  
"It doesn't matter, anyway, powers are ineffective here. When you first got here I'm sure they gave you a medical exam and gave you lots of shots. Every day Carmein and his croonies give a serum specialized that renders the mutant gene, for all intents and purposes, dead. Why do you think no one has ever escaped here?" Ghost laughed harshly,"They can't. There's no where to go, anyway, humans hate mutants out there, just like they do in here."  
  
"That's very hopeless," Hallie said softly.  
  
"Yeah, it is, now shut up and go to sleep."  
  
Hallie obeyed, but couldn't fall asleep for a long time.  
  
***  
  
Rogue looked up to see Ghost and the new girl enter together and step into the line. Rogue had been surprised when Ghost had let the girl sit with her at dinner, but she'd been absolutly shocked when Ghost had requested that she be assigned to Ghost's cell. Carmein and the security chief didn't care who was in a cell as long as there were 2 at night. Rogue had granted her request and although Lady, the girl who had previously bunked with Ghost, hadn't been happy about it, she'd obeyed. No one disobeyed Rogue.  
  
There was no serving staff to dish out the soupy oatmeal to the prisoners, so Rogue kept a carefull eye out at mealtime to make sure no girl took more than allotted.  
  
Ghost and her new friend were next and Ghost greeted Rogue as she poured her soup into a small bowl. Rogue stared at the girl and the girl stared right back. Rogue had to admire her tenacity, but only to a point, she would tolerate no insolence, especially from a girl who'd been here 2 days.  
  
"Ghost," Rogue called out.  
  
Ghost turned, surprised to be spoken to by the boss,"Yes?"  
  
"I will sit with you today."  
  
Ghost's jaw nearly dropped,"Yes, yes, of course."  
  
Rogue allowed herself a small smile at their retreating backs.  
  
"Who is that?" Hallie questioned, surprised by Ghost's reaction.  
  
"Here, she is god. When she sits with us, don't say a word. Don't say hello and don't try to make small talk." Ghost ordered.  
  
Hallie frowned, but decided now was not the time to argue. They sat down with Mila and Melora again. Ghost spoke excitedly to the pair,"She's coming to sit with us today!"  
  
The sisters looked at each other and then at her. "You're kidding?!" they asked in unison.  
  
"No!" Ghost exclaimed. "This is it, this is my chance. You'll both still support me?"  
  
Mila looked at Melora and viceversa. "Yes, it's the only chance we've got."  
  
***  
  
  
When the last of the women had gotten their oatmeal, Rogue dished out her own and made her way over to the table where Ghost and company were seated. Upon getting there, Ghost motioned to the seat next to her for Rogue to sit.   
  
"Good morning, ladies," Rogue greeted. All of the girls at the table returned her greeting, feeling very priviliged to have her sit there.  
  
Ghost looked down at her breakfast, trying to gather the courage to speak to Rogue. She would only have one chance to persuade her, and there was no way she was going to screw this up.  
  
"Rogue, if I may," Ghost looked at Rogue, asking her permission to speak.  
  
"Yes." Rogue answered. She had a feeling that Ghost had been wanteing to talk to her for a week or two, but Rogue had put her off until she'd gone out to check the guard situation.   
  
"I know that we can't speak in our cells, but their is enough noise here, and I was wondering if I might speak in the utmost secracy." Ghost asked, hoping not to be shot down before she even proposed her idea.  
  
Rogue frowned, she exactly what was coming. She was, in fact, surprised it had taken someone this long to talk to her about it. "Yes, of course, go ahead."  
  
"Well, I think that I may have an idea. A way that maybe we can.......escape." Ghost studied Rogue's face, unsure if she should continue. Her face was blank, however, and Ghost wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.  
  
"There aren't that many guards here. If we could disable any counter measures and find a way to eliminate the guards, we could easily get out of here."  
  
Rogue looked at her in disbelief. "That's it, that's your idea?"  
  
Ghost hurried on,"There is a nurse. One in the clinic who is willing to replace the serum with water or saline or something if we have a definite plan and we take her with us."  
  
Rogue just continued eating, studying Ghost, wondering how much thought she had actually put into this. Ghost looked away, to nervous to eat.   
  
"I have been here 3 fucking years, you think I haven't thought of that before?" Rogue demanded quietly.  
  
"No, I just thought that--" Ghost hurried on, only to be cut off by Rogue.  
  
"You thought what, that you'd be the cowboy? The hero? There may be a nurse willing to help, but only Carmein has the codes to the serum locker, there is no way this nurse would be able to switch the serum!"   
  
"But Rogue, that's just it. I have the codes!"  
  
Rogue looked at her impassively, unwilling to betray her shock at this piece of information. Rogue had known about the German nurse. She had approached her almost a year ago, questioning her loyalty. The nurse had said she would help back then, but Rogue had never mentioned it again, instead, waiting for the perfect oppertunity. But, Rogue hadn't known the codes. In fact, that was the only thing that would stop her plan, now that the new girl was here.  
  
"You have the codes?" she asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How?"  
  
Ghost looked at Melora,"Actually, Melora was the one who got the codes."  
  
Rogue looked at Melora for explanation.  
  
"About 3 weeks ago, during the serum adminstration, I put up a little fight and the guard knocked me out. Or so he thought. Carmein walked in to open the locker, and the guard told him I was out. Carmein ordered him out the room and punched in the codes. I watched him and I had a clear view of the consol. Usually he's so careful, but I think he was drunk. When he gave me my injection, he nearly shoved the whole needle into my vein."  
  
Rogue looked on in disbelief. How had this little waif of a girl succeeded where she herself had failed? Rogue had been trying for a long time to get those codes. Now, it was possible. Her plan would work, it had to. Rogue would get out free or she would die in the process.  
  
She turned, however, and gazed at Hallie. "What's your name, girl?"  
  
Hallie blinked in surprise."Hallie," she answered, unnerved by Rogue's unblinking stare.  
  
"I'm Rogue." Hallie nodded, she'd picked that up in the conversation.  
  
Rogue frowned suddenly, this was all a little too coincidental. She'd been waiting for a mutant like her for almost a year, and when she had come, there was suddenly someone who knew the codes.  
  
Rogue looked at the girl. "Let me see your hand, Hallie," Rogue asked, but it was really a command.   
  
Hallie reconized this immediatly and gave Rogue her hand. Rogue took it and studied it for a moment. "You know, Hallie, your new, and it would be a shame if I found out that somehow the guards knew about this little chat."  
  
Hallie shook her head violently,"I would never tell anyone, I want out of here too!"  
  
"That's good, Hallie, very good." Rogue suddenly had twisted Hallie's wrist violently and her other arm shot out, bracing Hallie's arm. Hallie fought to keep from crying out, her wrist was on the verge of breaking. With tears in her eyes, she begged Rogue silently to let her go. Ghost and the others just looked on, impassively. They would never interfere with Rogue. "Because if I disvcover you're plant," Rogue eyes were like steel now, a murderous glint in them, "I will kill you. Slowly. Very, very slowly. Do we understand one another?"   
  
Hallie's head bobbed quickly up and down, she didn't trust herself to speak. Rogue released her hand and went back to her oatmeal. The guards standing around had noticed nothing. The whole transaction had taken about 30 seconds.  
  
Hallie massaged her wrist, wincing in pain.  
  
"Will you consider it, Rogue?" Ghost said,.deciding that it was safe to speak.  
  
"ROLL!!" a guard shouted. Breakfast was over.  
  
Rogue just looked at Ghost and gave her a slight nod.  
  
They all began filing out for the courtyard and as they did, Ghost allowed herself a smile. They wouldn't be doing roll for much longer.  
  
***  
  
2 days. 2 days since that conversation in the eating hall. Rogue hadn't said anything and Ghost hadn't mentioned it. In fact, even if she had wanted to, she couldn't have. Rogue had eaten at other tables, but it was dinner time now and Ghost hoped that Rogue would sit with them.  
  
However, Ghost had come to a descion. Even if Rogue veteod it, she had decided that she'd go with the plan anyway. Ghost hadn't even considered going against her until she had been forced to listen to Hallie for 2 days telling her that they could make it out without Rogue or her permission. Hallie had smirked and couldn't figure out why Ghost would stay for Rogue. It was for Rogue, but Hallie hadn't been there long enough to know why everyone was loyal to her and why she was their leader.  
  
But Ghost knew that she couldn't make it here much longer and she was willing to go against Rogue. Ghost couldn't believe that Carmein had kept her alive this long. She'd survived almost every selection since that very first one. But even when she had been selected, Ghost had managed to survive. Then again, Rogue had as well. Rogue had been in almost every selection in her 3 years here and she always came back alive. No one knew what her powers were, but they knew she was very important.  
  
Rogue looked at Ghost from her spot at the soup bowl. Soup and oatmeal, that's what she'd eaten for the past 3 years. Rogue knew that Ghost and all the others who were privy to the conversation were waiting for answer, and tonight she would give them one.  
  
When everyone had gotten their soup, Rogue got her own and walked over to where they were sitting. Only Hallie noticed her approach and elbowed Ghost, trying not to be obvious.  
  
"What the hell?" Ghost demanded, irritated. Rogue stood in front of them and when Ghost looked up at her, Rogue nearly burst out laughing.  
  
"Oh, oh, uh," Ghost stammered.  
  
"May I sit down?" Rogue asked, clearly amused.  
  
"Yes, yes, of course." Ghost said, her face redning.  
  
"Well, I'm gonna cut to the chase. Tomorrow. Tomorrow we escape."  
  
Ghost nearly spit her soup all over. As it was, she choked on it before she finally asked, "What?! How?"  
  
"The past 2 days I have been speaking to the others and everyone who needs to be has been appraised of the situation. This morning everyone recieved saline instead of the serum. Tomorrow morning we will all get saline again. Now, Nurse Kaas assures me that with only 2 serum-free days our powers will return."  
  
Ghost listened in shock."But how did you get the codes, and how did you even know which nurse it was?"   
  
Rogue's eyes narrowed."I know everything. But if you really need to know, I approached Erika Kaas about a year ago. I didn't have the codes, but she said she would help if she could. And, Melora gave me the codes after roll 2 days ago."  
  
Ghost just stared at her."You have a plan." It wasn't a question."You've had a plan for 3 years."  
  
Rogue nodded."Here's what's going to happen: tomorrow, during roll, Erika is going to run out and tell Carmein that she has just found a dead patient, probably murdered. Now, this is will cause Carmein to go with her and a couple of guards. There are only 8 guards in the courtyard during roll, that leaves 3 in the barracks, and 2 at the gate." Rogue held up her hand to stop the question she knew was coming."I've been here and watched those punk ass pricks long enough to know the other 3 will be in the barracks, leaving them open to our plan. And there's no way Carmein won't go with Erika, I know him. Anyway, when Carmein leaves, our girl Hallie is going to provide a little distraction."  
  
Hallie's eyes widened."Me?" She was shocked to be included in the plan.  
  
Rogue sighed."Why do you think I've waited so long? Of all the mutants here, there isn't one that does the fire thing."  
  
"But surely there are other ways to distract the guards." Hallie said.  
  
"Yes, well, there are none that work. There were 2 escape attempts in my first year. One time they didn't have their powers. There were only 10 of them who tried. Someone made a big show and when the guards attention was diverted, they all stormed the gate."  
  
Hallie nodded, she had considered doing that. Rogue's next words, however, made her blood run cold.  
  
"They were cut down before they made it within 3 feet of the gate. 2 of them survived and they were tortured. Then, Carmein had them dragged around the compound from the back of a truck. After, they begged him to kill them, but he refused. I remember the look on his face and the grin he had. The next day, they were hung from a pole and stripped naked. We were all forced to watch as Carmein let the dogs loose. They chewed the skin off their bodies while they were still alive. Even after the dogs were done, don't ask me how, but, one of was still alive. Carmein left her there. She begged us to kill her, but no one would. I brushed the hair out her face and then I broke her neck."  
  
They all stared at her in shock. Rogue's face had absolutely no emotion as she continued.  
  
"The second time was about 8 or 9 months later. Security was a little more lax back then and one of girls managed to fake getting an injection of the serum. It was a bigger group this time, 20 or 25. The girl got her power back, she controlled water, and she flooded the place. Not the brightest idea, and most of us knew that so we didn't join them in their little endevour. After the first attempt, Carmein wasn't about to let anyone out of here. He had a system rigged so that if anyone tried, there were....deterents in place to stop them. As soon as the water came, Carmein released poison gas in the compound. Some of us could see what was coming and we raced to the clinic and into one of the airtight rooms. Carmein could of killed us all in that room, but he knew he couldn't eliminate his precious subjects."  
  
"When it was over, there were bodies everywhere. In the courtyard, in the mess, in the clinic itself. Most of the guards were killed, Carmein and almost all of his staff made it to safety.  
Carmein had release Sarin gas into the compound. Do you know what's it's like to see someone after they've been gased?" Rogue's eyes penetrated the listeners. No one moved or made a sound. "No, I suppose you don't. After they lose all control on their bowels and urine, the muscles freeze. They claw at their necks and eyes because they can't breath and their eyes nearly burst from the sockets from the pressure. The heart and organs nearly liquify and when they finally die and the agony is over, their eyes just stare and their mouths are open in a silent scream in agony."  
  
"Over 3 quarters of the camp died. After the bodies were burned and we had cleaned the mess, new guards came in. Every surviving prisoner was beaten within an inch of their lives. A few died from the torture. So, now maybe you understand why this is a small camp. Maybe you can understand why those of who were there would never try to escape unless there was a real chance of success. Maybe you can understand why I have waited 3 years." Rogue had barely blinked the entire time. None of them had ever heard this story. They knew there had been a couple tries to escape, but no one had talked about the details.  
  
Ghost smiled suddenly. "We're going to make it, Rogue, or we're sure as hell gonna die in the process."  
  
Mila, Melora, and Hallie all nodded affirmitivly. They were commited. Rogue just looked at the four who had been privy to the story, and then she smiled. They were good ladies, all of them. Rogue suddenly knew they were going to make it out. They had to.  
  
"What's the rest of the plan? What do you want me to do?" Hallie asked.  
  
"When Carmein and the guards go with Erika to the clinic, she will trick them into a room that locks from the outside; trapping Carmein and the guards inside. Her only condition in helping us is that she refuses to kill anyone. Hopefully, the guards will be so shocked that they will be too slow to react. Meanwhile, Hallie is going to blow up the clinic. If Erika is not out in exactly 8 minutes after she leaves with Carmein, Hallie will start a fire in the gas room. It holds all the oxygen and carbon dioxide tanks. This will blow up the clinic. I don't care if Erika is out of there in 8 minutes or not, Carmein cannot be allowed to put any 'countermeasures' in place." Rogue's eyes drilled into Hallie's. "Do you understand? There must be no hesitation. If you can't blow the place up, the attempt is useless and we might as well not even try." Hallie nodded, they were all counting on her for this to succeed and there was no way she would let them down.  
  
"Good. Now, after the clinic goes up, you have to burn down the guard tower, Hallie. However, Lady might be able to do it if you can't. She does the laser thing, but Carmein has screwed with her so many times, there is no guarentee she has any powers at all. Do you think you can handle this?" Rogue asked.  
  
"Yes." Hallie answered determindly.  
  
"In the meantime, the rest of us will be taking out the other guards and the German Shepards. Hannah and Jaguar will be taking care of the guards in the barracks and Iris and Jade will make a sweep to make sure all the guards are dead. Once that is accomplished, we'll ransack the place and get whatever supplies we need. We'll get on the transport truck and drive right out the front gate. We can't dawdle, however, because the fires could draw authorities of some sort."  
  
They all stared at Rogue. It was so simple, but so very ingenious.   
  
"ROLL!!"   
  
They all stood up. Hallie smiled,"It's on for tomorrow tonight."  
  
"Oh, yes, it is." Ghost answered. They would either succeed or they would die. There was no middle ground.  
  
***  
  
Erika Kaas stared at her reflection. 'Today. Today I leave this hellhole.' She thought, nearly bouncing with nervous enery. At first, she had been worried about all the staff. How would she get Carmein and the guards past them? Then she realized it didn't matter. Erika would simply lead them to the room with the 'murdered' patient, and once they all were inside, shut the door and lock it. After they were in there she would just go right past the other nurses and technicians and sprint out the front door. Once she was out, it didn't matter if someone let Carmein out or not, the girl will have blown the place up, anyhow.  
  
"Today!"  
  
***  
  
It was almost dinner time. Ghost and Hallie were pacing around in their cell. It was small, however, and they kept bumping into each other. All of a sudden their eyes met and they whispered in unison,"Today!"  
  
***  
  
Rogue gazed around at the cell that had been her home for 3 years. She wouldn't miss it.  
There were many things that could go wrong, she knew that. At first, she'd had been concerned with the fact that there was only one transport truck. How in the world would they fit nearly 100 girls in the back? Then, Lady had remembered the second truck that was kept in a garage. The trucks could easily hold 50 or so girls and everything was back on track.  
  
Rogue knew the dinner call would come in less than 5 minutes and dinner only lasted 25 minutes. And then roll.   
  
"Today," she mummured,"today is the end. Today is the beginning. Today!"  
  
***  
  
"ROLL!"  
  
5 minutes later, 93 teenage girls were lined up in a perfect block formation. By now, all 93 girls knew what was going to happen.  
  
One thought ran through all their minds, "Today!"  
  
***  
  
"Doktor! Doktor! You must come quickly!"  
  
"What is it?" Carmein demanded, noting the panicked tone in the German's voice.  
  
"A patient, Herr Doktor! A patient is dead! Murdered!" Erika cried, her thick accent stronger than usual.  
  
"Murdered?! How?! Show me now!" Carmein said, "3 of you," he pointed to a few of the guards,"come with me."  
  
Rogue barely suppressed a smile as the group raced away. They wouldn't move for 8 minutes, however, and Rogue started counting the seconds in her head.  
  
Erika raced into the clinic with Carmein and the guards hot on her heels.   
  
"In here, Doktor!" She cried as they stopped in front of a closed door. She carefully stepped aside to allow Carmein and the guards in. She grinned as they stepped past her and into the room without a second thought.  
  
"Nurse Kaas! What are you talking about? There is no one in here!" Carmein demanded, not liking the look in her eyes. Before anyone could react, Erika closed the steel door, hearing the soft click as it locked.  
  
Then she turned around and raced down the corridor. She was halfway there before the men locked in the room started pounding on the door. Erika ran even faster. She had only been in there 5 minutes or so, but it didn't help to dawdle.  
  
She burst out of the clinic and as soon as Rogue saw her she nodded to Hallie. Hallie nodded back, this was it, there was no turning back.  
  
Hallie focused her mind, and then she saw a flame. She envisioned a flame, just a small one at first, but then, all of a sudden it was quite large. It was spreading quickly. Spreading to the tanks. A fire had started in the gas tank room and no one in the clinic noticed it yet. Yet was the key word, they would know it in about 10 seconds.  
  
"BOOOMMMM!!!" Suddenly, a huge concussion wave swept the compound, knocking everyone to their feet. The tanks had burst, exploding, causing a chain reaction. The clinic had blown up. The battle had begun.  
  
As soon as the clinic was in flames, Hallie concentrated on the guard tower, she wouldn't wait for Lady, there was no time for hesitation. In less than 15 seconds it too, was on fire, the guards screaming in agony as they were burned alive.  
  
Everyone jumped into action. It was chaos. Rogue went for the nearest guard, and in one sweeping motion, had broken his neck. She quickly grabbed the machine gun he had been carrying and immediatly went after the remaining guards in the courtyard.  
  
The others had beaten her too it, however, and Rogue saw the bodies of the guards and dogs alike littering the square. Even the guards at the gates had already been killed. She looked around for Hannah and Jaguar, but they were already racing for the guard's barracks to care of the remaining men.   
  
Rogue could here some screams from the clinic. The people crying as they were trapped and then burned. There would be no rescue attempts. Everyone in the clinic would die. Almost everyone. Rogue gazed impassively as a young technician raced out of the clinic doors.   
Barrett? Was that his name? In less time than it took to blink, the young man was on his knees, a battery of bullets had torn his chest apart.   
  
Rogue didn't even break her stride as she jog-walked around the compound. Everyone seemed to be okay. Iris and Jade, the ones who were supposed to sweep the compound for guards, raced up to her. "All guards are dead and accounted for." Jade reported breathlessly.  
  
3 in the tower, 2 at the gate, 5 in the courtyard, 3 in the clinic with Carmein, 5 more who were regulary watching over the clinic, and 3 in the barracks.  
  
"All 21?" Rogue asked, pleased.  
  
"Yes," Iris answered, " except for the ones in the clinic, 13 guards are dead."   
  
"Excellent. Is everyone alright?"  
  
"Yes, the guards were too stunned to put up any kind of resistance."  
  
"Alright, let's raid the place. Mila, Melora," she called, "get the trucks out of the garage and start them. I want to be out of here in 20 minutes. Hannah, Jaguar, start rounding up any food stuffs from the kitchen. Put half in one truck, and half in the other." The two girls nodded and ran off to the kitchen.  
  
"Hallie, Ghost, come with me, we're going to clean up the offices."  
  
The three teens jogged off to the east side of the compound, where the doctor's and nurse's offices were. Rogue entered first, her machine gun at the ready. You never knew who could be hiding. It was a small building, only 5 offices, and Rogue swept them quickly. Finding no one, she motioned the other two into Carmein's office. While Hallie and Ghost searched the filing cabinet, Rogue rifled through the desk.  
  
"Rogue," Hallie said, "look at all these files. There are detailed descriptions of the experiments and what goes on here."  
  
"Leave them." Rogue ordered, not even looking up.  
  
"But this is proof. Proof of this terrible place. We could take it to the cops or the feds or even Washington!"  
  
"Washington." Rogue sneered, "Who the hell do you think funds this place? A place like this couldn't be kept secret for so long unless the government was behind it. Now, leave the files and check the other offices."  
  
Ghost nodded, she wasn't surprised by that piece of information, she had considered it in the past. Hallie, however, wasn't ready to give up.  
  
"There's no way the federal government could be behind this! They wouldn't do that to mutants!"  
  
"Wake up, you stupid girl! Humans hate mutants! All mutants! Do as I say and check the other offices." Rogue demanded.  
  
Hallie's shoulders slumped as she followed Ghost out. She had always believed in her government. Believed that the government would protect the people. All the people. Rogue was right, she was a stupid girl.  
  
"Find anything?" She asked Ghost who was searching a desk.   
  
"Bingo!" Ghost cried. She had found a box of money that was probably some kind of petty cash.  
  
They continued their search of the other 4 offices and found 2 other boxes of money, totaling about $1,000.  
  
Meanwhile, Rogue was still dumping out drawers looking for anything that might be useful in Carmein's office.  
  
After pulling out the last drawer, Rogue noticed something black lying on the frame of the desk.  
She reached in and pulled it out. A computer disk. 'Not the brightest place to hide something.' Rogue thought, smiling. She pocketed it and found a steel box underneath the desk. It was locked. With her super human strength, however, it took Rogue less than 5 seconds to pry open the box. "Paydirt!" She mumbled aloud. The box contained a huge stack of twenties. She quickly counted it and found a little over $4,000.  
  
She had just finished when Ghost and Hallie entered. "We found $1,000."  
  
"Very good, I found $4,000. With 93 people it's not going to go far." Rogue said, trying to figure out a way to divide it that would leave everyone with more than $5.  
  
"We'll travel in big groups and share the money. One truck goes on way, the other a different way. We'll only need the money for food and some cheap clothes." Ghost proposed.  
  
Rogue nodded, it was the only to do it. They left the offices and walked outside to find everyone milling around in front. The fire hadn't spread to anything else. The two truck's engines were idling where someone had pulled them up in front of the offices.  
  
The group quieted as Rogue rose her arm to speak.   
  
"I know everyone has it hard here. Most of us have been here for a long time and we're more than ready to go home. Our homes, however, might not be there for us. Some of us have no place to go. No one to welcome us when we get home, wherever that may be. It doesn't matter, though, we've found a home with each other. That's what counts."  
  
"One truck will drive around Canada, taking anyone home who lives here. The other will go south to America. It will be hard to get a truck through with no papers, so those of you that go may have to find cars, or another way in. I myself have no home back in the South, so I'll be staying in Canada. Once you get home, wherever that is, none of you can tell of the place that you escaped." A murmer ran through the group at this. "The U.S. government has funded this place, and if they find out we all escaped, they might hunt us down and kill us. One by one. So keep your mouths shut. Make up a story, make up anything, but never tell anyone the truth."  
  
"Is that clear?" All 92 heads bobbed up and down in understanding.  
  
Rogue voice and gaze softened, "It has been my pleasure to be with all of for these last couple of years. I hope you all make it home safely. Godspeed."  
  
They all cheered. They were finally free. Rogue held up her hand for one last thing. "The truck on the right will go south to America. The one on the left will travel Canada."  
  
They all cheered again and began heading to their respective trucks.  
  
Rogue, Ghost, and Hallie just watched the procession. Then, going against the flow was Erika Kaas. She walked up to the platform where Rogue and the others were standing.   
  
"I want to thank you, for getting all of us out of here."  
  
Rogue waved her hand dismisively. "No, there is one more thing." The German continued,"I want to apologize. I'm sorry that I never had the courage to stop Carmein and his work. You all are so very brave. I'm sorry."   
  
Rogue gave her a small smile and the two shook hands. She nodded to the other two standing there and then stepped off the platform, heading for the American truck.   
  
Rogue frowned, she was very gratefull for the nurse's help, but she could never forgive her. Erika Kaas had been at the compound even before Rogue had arrived there. She had participated in so many experiments over the years, causing so much pain to those imprisoned there. Rogue supposed she understood, Carmein would have had her exocuted if she had stated her desire for the experiments to end. But that didn't mean she could ever forgive her.   
  
Rogue turned to Hallie and Ghost, to say her goodbyes, they both would be heading for America. Rogue wordlessly hand Ghost $2,500 to be used for the journey. When the girls had finished bording the truck, Rogue was surprised to see that it was almost exactly 50/50.  
  
Hallie looked at Rogue with tears in her eyes. Hallie hadn't known anyone here for very long, but she was sad to see the woman that had saved their lives and helped them escape go.   
Hallie suddenly embraced Rogue in a hug. Rogue stiffened in surprise but then returned the gesture of affection. "Thank you so much." Hallie whispered. Rogue nodded and Hallie walked away to the truck that would take her home.  
  
Ghost and Rogue just studied each other. They hadn't been good friends or anything, but they had shared an experience. A period of their lives, and they had helped each other through it.  
  
The two girl-women embraced each other without a word, and then Ghost walked to the American truck without a backward glance.  
  
Rogue surveyed the area that had been her home, her hell, for the past 3 years. And she spit on the ground. She waved as the America truck pulled out and then walked over to the Canadian truck. She jumped in the passenger seat and the truck pulled out of the gate. Not one of the girls gave the compound a backward glance.  
  
***  
  
Rogue frowned as she studied the greasy burger in front of her. After 3 years of soup and oatmeal, her stomach severly disagreed with it.  
  
She had gotten off the truck at about the 4th town they had come to, nearly 2 days ago. After clothes and food for everyone, there had been almost $2,000 left. The girls had insisted that she take half of it, but Rogue had refused, taking only $100. She'd stayed in a cheap hotel and now was seated on a bar stool. Out of the corner of her eye, she studied the man seated next to her. She had seen him yesterday, fighting in the cage, situated in the back of the bar.   
  
'Kind of a fury fellow, ain't he?' Rogue asked herself. He looked like a drifter, and Rogue needed a ride out this one-horse town. She couldn't help but wonder what persona he would be most inclined to help.  
  
"What are you staring at?" The man suddenly growled, noticing Rogue's scrutiny.  
  
Rogue looked away, not answering. She could barely contain her smile. Definitly the weak and alone teenager persona.   
  
Oh, yeah, she grinned confidently. Rogue would be in his car and away from this town in less than 24 hours. She'd bet her life on it.  
  
  
***  
  
And that's the end, there isn't anymore.  
  
Thank you all for reading.  
  
I'd like to thank Greg Iles. His novel, Black Cross, provided me with a few ideas for the story. I definitly recommend his books to anyone, they're excellent.  
  
I enjoyed writing this and finished it in record time. If there is enought interest, I'd like to write a story intertwining Rogue's "past" and her "present" with the X-Men.  
  
If you're interested in a story like that, please e-mail at:  
  
mackynziegallacher@hotmail.com  
  
Even if you're not, write me and tell me what you thought, or write a review.  
  
Thanks so much.  
  
Sincerely,  
MacKynzie Gallacher 


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